Solaria solar panels review 2022: More than just the looks

What makes Solaria solar panels so different from others is their approach to photovoltaic cells. American engineers slice solar cells into 5-6 strips and these strips are overlaid to create an electrical connection between them. It’s a bit like laying shingles on a roof. As a result, a shingled solar panel doesn’t need busbars, thin copper ribbons or wires that usually connect solar cells together in a module. Without busbars a panel gets a much more uniform look which makes it more appealing to an eye.

Busbars, however thin they are, also take up the surface of a panel – the area which is covered by a busbar doesn’t produce energy. Shingled design allows to cover all the available surface with solar elements without the need of spacing cells apart as in panels of a traditional design. More active surface means a bigger energy harvest from a square foot.

The fact that a PV module doesn’t have busbars also makes it more reliable since busbar failures are excluded. Solar shingles are glued together with a conductive adhesive and overall a shingled solar panel is even more resistant to mechanical pressure than a standard PV module.

Another advantage of a shingled design is higher shading tolerance. Solar cells in a normal panel are connected in series which means that the performance of one cell depends on its neighbors and so on. Shingled sub-strings in Solaria panels are connected in parallel which makes them independent from nearby strings. In general, Solaria panels are 37-45% better at fighting shading than traditional panels.

At the end of the day, the advantages of shingled solar panel design include:

• better aesthetics;
• higher energy production from a square foot;
• improved shading tolerance;
• higher reliability.

Higher manufacturing costs and a large number of required intellectual property explain Solaria solar panels prices and why most companies abstain from shingled design. Solaria isn’t the only brand that has been using it, though. Sunpower and Seraphim Solar also try out designs based on the same idea. However, Solaria can be considered the pioneer of the technology and certainly remains its leader.

Solaria panels show good efficiency that ranges from 19.6% to 20.5%, which is higher than average numbers on the market. Shingled design allows engineers to maximize the active area of a panel. Higher power output per square foot allows you to make a system that matches your needs with less panels and less space than with most manufacturers.

Solaria panels come at relatively high price due to the use of the shingled design. The cost per watt ranges from $1 to $1.3 or higher. That puts the American manufacturer in the upper part of the list of brands with the most expensive panels. While Sunpower or LG panels can be more expensive, Solaria is right behind them next to Panasonic and REC.

Solaria offers a 25-year warranty for parts, performance and labor which is on par with top-tier manufacturers like REC and Panasonic in that regard. Solaria panels retain 86% of their power output after 25 years in service which is slightly better than average degradation rates in the industry. The reliability of Solaria panels is proven by a number of quality certificates, like TUV Rheinland and RETC, and the brand is recognized as a ‘Top performer’ in DNV GL PV Module Reliability Scorecard.

When it comes to harsh weather tolerance, Solaria is on top of its game. Solar cells are protected by black anodized aluminum frame and a layer of tempered glass. The modules can withstand 5400 Pa of pressure on the front side which is enough to survive tornadoes and hurricanes of small and medium scale. Shingled design increases the overall durability of a module.

Great shading tolerance of Solaria modules is not to be overlooked. Sub-strings inside a panel are connected in parallel instead of the traditional connection in series. Each panel has four bypass diodes which split the module into four independent sections. Overall, Solaria panels lose around 40% less energy caused by shading than standard panels.